Haven’t been posting in a while, as I have been neither gaming nor painting much. Enough of the apologist crap though, this is mainly a hobby blog and not a “sorry I haven’t been updating” type of blog.

The reason I’ve awakened from my slumber is that Steve (aka Thantsants) over at Somewhere the Tea’s Getting Cold have given me one of those dreadful chain-award things. That said, I do enjoy talking about myself. It’s one of few topics I’m a world leading authority on so it stands to reason I’m pretty into it.

A part of accepting a Liebster is to state eleven truths about one self. Here are mine.

Truth #1
I hate it when people say things like “The proof is in the pudding” or “Without further adieu”. The proof of the pudding is in the EATING, not in the pudding. Dolts.

Truth #2
I dislike club gaming and gaming clubs. I prefer to play games with people I enjoy hanging out with to begin with. If the only mutual interest is the game we play then I’m not interested. I’ve had too many unenjoyable club games with munchkins only interested in winning. That being said, I’ve made some good friends through gaming too – so it’s not all bad.

Truth #3
I love my family more than anything and would not spend a minute with this hobby unless my wife approved. Which she does, begrudgingly, as she knows I would go nuts if I didn’t do it. What she might not know is that I would go even nutser (yes) if I didn’t get to hang around with her and my son on a daily basis.

Truth #4
I thoroghly enjoy a good cigar and have a nice table humidor and a large storage humidor in which I keep my stock of about 200 cigars. Not much by geek standards, but I never went full cigar geek. It is however a very enjoyable past-time, to sit down outside on the patio in the sun for an hour or so to have a good smoke. Preferrably accompanied by a good book.

Truth #5
I trained to be a chef, but after I graduated from school I went right back in and studied informatics (that’s IT stuff) for five years. After that I’ve been working as a test- and automation specialist in software development for nearly 14 years and last year I started Neodev, a joint venture with a few colleagues. We’re a consultancy firm specializing in developing automated test frame works and tools. I’ve been with the same client since the start.

Truth #6
For my cousin’s stag party kidnapping part, I dressed up in a pink morph-suit to portray the evil mastermind Doctor Losernoob.

Truth #7
I used to be a dog person, but have since become a cat kook. Low-maintenance pets with a high yield of affection. I don’t want an animal constantly bugging me for attention. Cats fit the bill well and our cat Vizky is just right for us. I can’t imagine me ever getting a dog again, I’m mostly annoyed by dogs nowadays.Truth #8
I have a rather hefty CD collection with over 1000 titles. I never listen to them and it saddens me. I love electronic music more than any other type, but hiphop almost as much. Stuff like The KLF, Depeche Mode, Kraftwerk, Nitzer Ebb, The Shamen, The Orb, Underworld make up a sizeable part of my CD collection. More recent discoveries include Glitch Mob, Evil 9 or Dilemn. I’ll leave you with three links to playlists on Spotify, where I’ve put together 100 songs from 100 artists. One genre-less, one hiphop and one with “synth” which would be the Swedish term for anything from 80s new romantic to industrial via hipster electronica.100 från 100 – Hiphop100 från 100 – Synth100 från 100

Truth #9
I’m an avid buyer of comics and recently shifted to digital comics via Marvel’s rather brilliant digital service. I share an account with my cousin and we’ve been buying quite a lot of comics over the past two years. Digital comics are great for discovering new stuff and amongst my favourites over the last year have been the Siege cross-over, Avengers Academy, Moon Knight by Bendis and Hawkeye’s solo book. The greatest disappointments were Avengers vs X-Men and Age of Ultron. No surprises there though, cross-overs are usually rather dull affairs with little to no lasting effect. I’m in the final few issues of Superior Spider-man and have enjoyed it a lot more than I initially expected, given the rather silly premise. I can also report (happily) that the interest for Spider-man and superheroes in general has been inherited by my son.Truth #10
I’m one of the luddites who still buy movies on physical media. I can’t say why, but I find the experience superior to watching streamed or downloaded movies. I’m currently setting up a room in our basement to serve as a combined home cinema and play room for the kids, renovating it from ground up. So far, walls and ceiling are done and the rest remains to be finished. Then I can start buying furniture and tech, the fun parts!

Truth #11
I have never in my life owned a fully painted Warhammer army of any kind. I even struggle finishing Blood Bowl teams (16 players). I should really try to lower my bar for when a model is finished and good to go for gaming. In an attempt to do that, I try to finish the basing before I’m done with a mini. That way, I can say “Enough!” earlier as the base helps to lift the general appearance of the miniature.

After the truths, it is now time to answer the eleven questions Thantsants asked:

Q: What’s your favourite Warhammer (or other) rules set and why?
A: It’s a bit of a tie, really. As far as Warhammer go, I’d have to say 4th edition. This on the merit that it’s the only edition I have ever really played. I’m probably one of the least ‘hammery chaps on the Oldhammer forum. Instead, my favourite rule set have to be Song of Blades & Heroes. It’s a waning love though, I’m looking to replace it and by the look of things it will most likely be Pulp Alley. My favourite GW game is Blood Bowl, with Space Hulk coming in a close second.

Q: What provisions have you made for your lead pile in your will (if any)?
A: None. I do hope my son would be ready and able to continue the tradition, but if he has zero interest I might arrange for something. I’ll leave my Hagar Sheol to Thantsants though. ;)

Q: What’s your greatest wargaming bargain/trade/acquisition?
A: That’s a tough one. The one that springs to mind was when I found a pile of old Swedish RPG books in an antiques shop, selling for 15SEK (about £1.50). I bought them and sold them on, for a total of around £150. The most satisfying acquisition was probably when Michael Immig recently gave me a limited edition Guard of the Citadel (rare Metal Magic piece) as a sweetener in a trade where I also secured a few other hard-to-find Metal Magic models. I had never expected to own them. Especially not the Guard of the Citadel. Being given it essentially for free, by one of the guys who sculpted some of the models I’m collecting, that’s a Pretty Nice Thing ™!

Q: What’s your best war story – on or off the gaming table?
A: I really dislike gaming stories. They’re always of the “I guess you had to be there” caliber. It reminds me of Rimmer in the Red Dwarf episode when he’s telling Kryten and Lister “amusing stories” from his Risk nights. However, I will humor you. A story that springs to mind is when I played in the Swedish championship of Star Wars CCG. The guy I was facing in one of the rounds had brought an EBO-deck. It relied to 100% on the card “Echo Base Operations” – hence the name. After we had played our first game, he realized he had forgotten to put that card in. Poor chap! Aaaand point proven. Gaming anecdotes are usually boring for everybody but the ones involved.

Q: LARPING – is it right?
A: Lightningbolt! ‘Nuff said. I was to one LARP in my youth. Caught in the middle between “Dost thou farth thee well ye olde shoppe forsooth?!” crowd and “Hi, I’m Conan the Barbarian and so is my mate. Lol!”. The outdoorsy parts were fun, the drunken debauchery in the evenings was fun. The rest, not so much.

Q: What attracted you to the hobby in the first place?
Blood Bowl. I had used miniatures for roleplaying games prior to Blood Bowl, and I tried painting them from time to time – but most definitely 2nd edition Blood Bowl. Ofcourse, as a kid I was constantly building dioramas and playsets for my Britains figures, my smurfs or my Star Wars figures. Pretty sure that have had an impact for my unhealthy fascination with little lead men.

Q: What keeps you in the hobby now?Good question. I think it’s the active online community, really. It provides fuel for the fire. Without that inspiration and encouragment, the hobby would take a back seat in my life. I’d still play games with miniatures every now and then, but wouldn’t collect and paint as much as I do now.

Q: If money/time/skill was no object, what setting/story/movie/etc would you most like to game?
A: Something big, with a huge table and lots of miniatures taking ages to play. Warhammer 3rd edition, maybe. Or maybe a big-ass Star Wars massed battle, such as the battle for Hoth.

Q: Is everything better with Dinosaurs?
A: I have a very un-geeky disposition towards dinosaurs. I don’t think I have ever been excited about dinosaurs. As such, I don’t care much. I doubt porn would be improved by dinosaurs, for example.

Q: What was your worst gaming/painting/modelling disaster?
A: Don’t have any real tales of woe. I varnish-misted a minotaur a bit once, but it sorted itself. Biggest disaster was probably me selling off my old Orcs & Goblins army (mostly 3rd edt stuff) back when I was a stupid.

Q: What is best in life?A: A full day of gaming with good friends is high on my list. That, or just idly reading books on a tropical beach far, far away. Or just stay in, watching movies a whole day. That doesn’t happen often.

Now, to nominate another eleven blogs. I’m trying to promote good blogs with (undeservedly) few followers and (too) little activity in the comments section, or well-known blogs that I’m (fairly) sure haven’t posted any Liebster stuff.

Finally, my 11 questions for the above nominees to answer if they pick up the challenge. I urge everybody to supplement the answers with illustrative pictures and links!1. Which currently unfinished piece (model or terrain) in your collection have remained a work in progress the longest?2. What’s your biggest, most guilty of musical pleasures?3. What do you cook for a friend or date in an effort to really wow them?4. Presented with the choice of three large cookies or five small cookies, what would be your choice and why? The total mass of cookie is identical, as are the cookies.5. If you were allowed to use only one web-forum for the rest of your life, which forum would that be and why?6. Do you really expect to be able to paint all that stuff in your lifetime?7. What’s your favourite go-to board game for a spot of recreational gaming fun with non-gamer friends?8. Do you have an irreplaceable pot of paint that you dread the day it runs out?9. Pets?10. In 10 years time, what do you expect or hope being up to hobby-wise?11. Which currently available miniatures range is your favourite?